FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

FILING · MN · 2026 FDD

Captain D's FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — 2026

The FDD is the 23-item legal disclosure every U.S. franchisor must hand you at least 14 days before you sign or pay anything (FTC Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436). Captain D's's most recent FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). Registration-state filings are public records, so you can read it free, with no sign-up.

Get the documentpublic record · PDF
Download from the Minnesota regulator (free) ↗

PUBLIC RECORD · FILED 2026 · SOURCE STATE MN

What the 2026 filing revealedextracted from the filing
ITEM 5Initial franchise fee$35,000
ITEM 6Ongoing royalty4.5% of gross sales
ITEM 7Total initial investment$662K–$1.9M
ITEM 3Disclosed litigation matters0
ITEM 19Earnings disclosure (FPR)Yes — median unit volume $1.0M (population and period as defined in the filing's Item 19)
ITEM 20Outlets (fiscal 2025)229 franchised at year end · 13 exits (exit rate 5.5%, fiscal 2025)
ITEM 21Franchisor financial statementsUnmodified (clean) opinion — Grant Thornton LLP
Item 19 · how Captain D's's earnings claim is built2026 FDD · page-cited

The headline figure is Average Gross Sales for FY2025 (Dec 29, 2024 - Dec 28, 2025), for 210 of 229 units, leaving out not open for the full fiscal year, temporarily closed for repairs, non-traditional and others.

More completeCovers 210 of 229 units (92%) · median and mean · some costs

Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.

What is measuredAverage Gross Sales (gross sales)
PeriodFY2025 (Dec 29, 2024 - Dec 28, 2025)
Whose resultsFranchised outlets
Units included210 of 229 franchised restaurants (total)
Left out
  • not open for the full fiscal year (18)
  • temporarily closed for repairs (1)
  • non-traditional
  • international locations
  • non-free-standing
Average (mean)$1.1M
Median$1.0M
Mean vs medianmean 3.8% above median
Met or beat the average89 of 210 above average
Costs shownSome cost items only
Wherep. 42 (Item 19 runs pp. 40–43)
The filing's words“a total of 210 franchised restaurants in operation continuously during our fiscal year ended December 28, 2025, out of a total of 229 franchised restaurants”
Item 21 · Captain D's's own audited statements2026 FDD · page-cited

Grant Thornton LLP gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue fell 4% from FY2023 to FY2025.

Audit opinion

Unmodified (clean) opinion

Grant Thornton LLP · p. 57

Revenue · FY2025

$11.4M

p. 61 · matched to statement

Net income · FY2025

$11.2M

p. 61 · matched to statement

Where FY2025 revenue came from

100% royalties

initial-fee share not extracted

  • Fiscal years covered: FY2023, FY2024, FY2025 (2026 FDD, statements from p. 61)
  • Statements are for: Captain D’s Enterprises, LLC
  • Parent / owner: not identified in the statements

How to read this: royalties recur as long as franchisees trade; initial and development fees arrive only when new franchises are sold. A franchisor whose revenue leans on initial fees is funding itself by selling territories, and that revenue stops when sales slow. Under ASC 606 most franchisors recognize initial fees over the agreement term, so the line understates the cash collected in a strong selling year. Ad-fund revenue, where reported, is included in total revenue as the statements present it.

Each figure links to its page in the filed PDF. “Matched to statement” means our extraction and a second, rule-based read of the statement page agree; “extracted · not cross-checked” means the statement page is a scanned image or could not be read as text. Figures we could not place on a consistent scale are withheld, not guessed. Spotted an error? Report a correction.

Every figure above was extracted by software from the 2026 Captain D's FDD as filed (figures are not individually checked by a person) and links back to that document. Fields that could not be extracted are omitted; no figure here is estimated. Extraction errors are possible: the filing controls, and FDDs are reissued annually; verify against the current issuance before relying on any number. Spotted an error? Franchisors and owners can report it via the contact on our Terms page.

Captain D's FDD questions, answered

Where can I download the Captain D's FDD for free?

Captain D's's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is a public record, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). It can be downloaded free from the source link on this page — no broker form, no email signup required.

What year is Captain D's's most recent FDD on file?

The most recent Captain D's FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD, filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce (public CARDS portal). Franchisors must update their FDD annually; confirm you are reading the current issuance before signing.

Does Captain D's's FDD disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — Captain D's makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.0M. Read the basis fine print: franchisors choose which units and metrics to include.

What does Captain D's's FDD Item 20 show?

In fiscal 2025, Captain D's ended with 229 franchised outlets; 13 of 237 open at the start of the year left the system (exit rate 5.5%, fiscal 2025) through terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons".

The Captain D's validation checklist

questions built from this brand's own filings · read them all on the profile

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